


Little Shop of Hopeless Romantics

by chucks_prophet



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Cousin Gabriel, Cute, Dentist Castiel (Supernatural), Dentistry, First Meetings, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Patient Dean, Sexual Humor, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, fear of the dentist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-01
Updated: 2019-08-01
Packaged: 2020-07-28 12:34:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20064103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chucks_prophet/pseuds/chucks_prophet
Summary: Cas shakes his head with a small chuckle, “Open wide, Dean.”“Usually those words aren’t directed towards me, but today’s a day for firsts.”Cas swivels to grab his mouth mirror, never more grateful for standard practice to require a mask because he’s grinning like someone who shouldn’t be trusted with a sharp, pointy pick.





	Little Shop of Hopeless Romantics

“Dr. Novak, your one o’clock is here.”

“Perfect,” Cas says, voice muffled between his face mask and the shrieking whirl of his dental drill. “Tell them I’ll be five minutes. Thanks, Meg.”

Cas sighs over the noise. It’s nice to have a break from fillings for a yearly cleaning. Before those, he spent an hour modeling a bridge in 3D imaging, which sounds cool before you spend another hour perfecting it. But he made an insecure teenage girl feel slightly more confident to face the world, so it was worth it. It’s just sometimes he wishes he wasn’t such a workaholic. But it’s too late to take a holiday. He’s booked out until October and it’s only August.

“Seriously, little cous, I owe you one!”

“Yes, Gabriel. You _literally _owe me a hundred dollars_._”

“He’s the best in the business guys!” Gabriel announces to the new patients in the once quiet waiting area. “Oh and help yourself to the Dumb Dumbs up front! Courtesy of me. Razorblade free.”

“_Thank you, _Gabriel.” Cas urges Gabe out with not-so-gentle hands on his shoulders.

Once Gabriel is out the door, Cas shifts his focus to the new faces. “Alright, Dean, was it? I can take you back.”

Both father and son approach him, one with more hesitancy than the other. Crouching down, Cas meets the little boy with a gentle smile. “It’s gonna be okay, Dean,” he reassures, “I’m gonna take really good care of you.”

“I’m not getting my teeth cleaned,” the boy responds confidently, “it’s for my dad. But can you sharpen my teeth into vampire fangs for Halloween?”

Cas glances up at the man. Judging by the blush fanning out across his starry cheeks like a volcanic sunset, he’s beyond mortified.

And anxious. When Cas lends out his hand, he flinches a little. 

“Nice to meet you, _Dean,” _he corrects with a small laugh he quickly regrets. He clears his throat and speaks with sincerity, “I assure you, you’re in good hands. I’ll even let you choose your toothpaste. I have five new flavors.”

Dean accepts the hand given to him with the same wariness, but with intrigue judging by the narrow of his bright green eyes. “What kind of flavors are we talkin’?”

“Are you a fan of cherry pie?”

Interested but also slightly skeptical, Dean lifts a brow. “Did you get that from my file? Because that was eerily spot-on.”

Cas gestures to his top. “I took a shot in the dark with your Warrant shirt.”

Dean glances down and takes in the graphic tee with a slow nod. Then, swallowing thickly, shifts his gaze to his son. The boy, rummaging through the small bowl of Dumb Dumbs at the counter, just turns back to his dad with a confident smile. “Don’t worry, Dad. I’ll save you one when you get out.”

Dean scoffs, which seems to relax his broad, flannel-clad shoulders a little, “Thanks, Ben.”

With the accentuated _pop _of a cotton candy lollipop, Ben replies, “You got it.”

He turns back to Cas, who’s already holding the door for him. Dean wipes the palms of his shaking hands on his jeans and follows Cas inside.

After he guides him into his chair, Cas slides on his gloves, mask and dental loupes and wheels over to Dean. He can tell Dean’s having a hard time looking at him. Cas just can’t tell if it’s due to the giant, multi-lens glasses that make him look like a failed horsefly-human hybrid experiment, or the myriad sharp instruments on the prep table. It probably all looks a little Frankenstein to him.

“What do you do for a living, Dean?” Cas asks, pushing the loupes over his head.

“I, uh… I’m a mechanic.”

“Okay. Okay, I can work with that. What do you do the most often to cars?”

“Probably minor tune-ups,” he says. “You know, changing out air filters, spark plugs, PCV valves…”

“Great, think of this cleaning as me giving your mouth a tune up.” Cas grabs one of the instruments from the table. “This is a tartar scraper. Think of this as a wrench. You know how to use a wrench because you’re a mechanic, so your customers trust you with their car. Heck, you probably use a wrench often—just like I’ve been using these tartar scrapers almost every day since I’ve been practicing dental hygiene. Fifteen years, by the way. Cleanings are my tune-ups.”

Dean, for the first time since Cas has seen him, visibly breathes. “Well, I _am_ a shitty singer, so I’m sure my mouth can use one…”

Cas laughs. “Well, I’m afraid I can’t help with that, but I can help you eat ice cream.”

“You’re a miracle worker, doc.”

“I try,” replies Cas, sliding the loupes back over his eyes. “You ready?”

Sighing, Dean returns, “No, but I trust you. Just don’t take an actual wrench to my teeth.”

“Duly noted.”

“Can’t you use laughing gas on me?” Dean interrupts as Cas moves closer with the scraper. “Or even anesthesia? I have no problem taking drugs. I _encourage _drugs. You know… for medicinal use.”

“Not for a cleaning, no.”

“Are you sure? I’ll give you a second to look over the DDS handbook.”

Cas shakes his head with a small chuckle, “Open wide, Dean.”

“Usually those words aren’t directed towards me, but today’s a day for firsts.”

Cas swivels to grab his mouth mirror, never more grateful for standard practice to require a mask because he’s grinning like someone who _shouldn’t _be trusted with a sharp, pointy pick.

“Dean… Dean, are you okay?”

Dean startles with a snort as he opens his eyes. “Huh? Oh sorry, I think I actually dosed off a little.”

Cas shrugs as he removes his face mask. “I figured. There was a _lot _of drool. Like, more than my usual patients.”

Mouth failing to catch air between his teeth, Dean finally manages to speak, “I, um… I can explain?”

“Dean, I’m kidding,” he laughs, pushing the overhead lamp aside before grabbing the tray of instruments to deposit on the cleaning station behind him. “You can take the glasses off now too, Maverick.”

“Well, this is awkward.”

“What is?”

“Me sad to _leave _the dentist chair.”

“The chair that comfortable?” Cas jokes.

There’s a pause. When Dean speaks again, he’s quieter, but his tone is confident: “And you.”

Cas cranes his head ninety degrees, indirectly smiling at the compliment. “Well, thank you.”

“I’m serious,” Dean says, “you’ve been super patient with me this whole time, and… well, it definitely helps that you’re easy on the eyes.”

Swiveling around again fully with his blue eyes glaring up at Dean, Cas warns, “You know, this is the part where I remind you to brush and floss, so you better not forgo self-care to get comfy in my chair.”

Dean holds up his hands. “You have my word.”

“Nonsense. No one ever remembers to floss. Just brush at least twice a day… and you’re welcome.”

“You know what, Dr. Novak, I think you have a problem accepting compliments.”

“And formality. Please, call me Cas.”

Dean rolls his eyes and off the chair. “Cas it is, _doc,” _Dean amends, lending out his hand. “Seriously, though, let me buy you a coffee or something to thank you.”

“Coffee stains your teeth, Dean,” Cas rejoins, accepting the offered hand.

“Huh,” Dean scoffs as he lets go of him, “I get it.”

“What?”

“You’re afraid, too—afraid of _fun. _I can definitely fix that.”

Dean winks, and with that, waves to Cas as he leaves the office.

Cas definitely does _not_ notice how much bounce his ass has doing so.

But it does have him thinking… maybe he can squeeze in a personal day.

But first, he has to figure out how to break it to Dean he’ll have to find a new dentist…


End file.
